Recent Posts

About

Bruce came to personal finance writing the old fashioned way: he didn't have much money, but wanted to do cool things. Clearly, some creativity was in order. From traveling around Europe to paying for a wedding, moving to New York to raising a child, he's figured out how to have fun without spending much money. In the process, he's also learned a few things about how politics and economics can help (or hurt) middle class finances. As DailyFinance's senior features writer, Bruce gets to combine his two favorite things: learning how the world works and explaining what he's learned to his readers.

YouTube.com"In the Red," a film by American Student Assistance.
Economically speaking, it's a nightmare out there for young adults. Student loan debt has never been higher and the employment market has rarely been tougher. Wages are low, expenses are high, and a growing number of college grads are finding themselves on a treadmill to nowhere, running hard and fast merely to stay in place.

But student loan debt isn't just a horror: now it's a horror movie. American Student Assistance, a nonprofit group that educates collegians about loans and counsels graduates on their repayment options, has released "In the Red," an eight-minute horror film in which the young heroine is stalked by the ever-more-terrifying specter of her debt.

The movie draws from classic horror flicks -- some scenes will be familiar to fans of Final Destination, Jacob's Ladder, 28 Days Later and any number of Alfred Hitchcock films. But if the technique is classic, the story is all-too-contemporary: A recent college graduate finds herself drowning in college debt, car debt, and the high cost of her lifestyle. As hard as she tries, she can't escape from the relentless, constant threat of...the red.

Critics, including The Atlantic's Jordan Weissmann, have claimed that the movie exaggerates the student debt problem and have questioned the effectiveness of treating debt as a horror. However, as anyone who has ever been on the debt treadmill can attest, the nightmare is very real. And, for grads facing the harsh light of post-collegiate home economics, an eight-minute horror flick seems like the perfect tool to jump-start a conversation on bludgeoning...um, budgeting, your way out of debt.

Watch the movie and let us know what you think.

If you thought this classic horror movie was about a haunted house, see if this scenario sounds familiar: An idealistic young couple buys a home that sounds too good to be true. Once they're mortgaged to the hilt, problems start to crop up. They can't leave, they can't stay, and an unseen evil force starts to tear their family apart.

Filmmakers have used zombies to symbolize everything from faceless corporations to the inhumanity of the military industrial complex. In this early offering (and, to a lesser extent, in its remake), it isn't particularly hard to figure out the greater symbolism of a bunch of mindless, shambling zombies swarming into a shopping mall.

Speaking of mindless shambling, "Shaun of the Dead" used the same conceit to symbolize office work.

Everybody remembers Janet Leigh's death scene in the classic slasher flick. What they forget, though, is why she ended up in the Bates Motel in the first place: She was on the run after stealing a small fortune from her employer. As for the motel itself, it was facing hard times because the recently-unveiled highway drove away business.

For a funnier take on a similar story, you might try taking a peek at "Auntie Lee's Meat Pies", which manages to brilliantly combine cannibalism, serial murder and Pat Morita.

Forget ghosts and ghouls: Few things are scarier than asking the bank for a loan. But in this Sam Raimi-directed flick, the tables are turned as a young loan officer turns a deaf ear to a seemingly feeble gypsy woman trying to borrow some money. Needless to say, all hell breaks loose.

On the surface, this 1981 classic is the tale of super-evolved wolves preying on New Yorkers. Scratch a little deeper, though, and another story emerges: The tale of wealthy Manhattanites preying on poor people in the Bronx, then being themselves preyed upon by wolves. In other words, NYC in the 1970s was truly a dog-eat-dog world.

If you want another fix or two of class-based horror, check out "CHUD" and "Street Trash," both of explore the plight of New York's invisible homeless.

Sure, Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror film is all about telepathic kids and haunted houses and elevators full of blood. But one of the first bits of fear and tension occurs in the hotel manager's office, where Jack Torrance, a recovering alcoholic who can't seem to hold onto a job, finds himself forced to beg for a gig as the winter caretaker of a resort hotel. Anybody who remembers the travails of searching for a job will recognize this truth: The nightmare isn't being trapped a haunted house -- it's having to grovel to get a job in a haunted house.

Angus Scrimm's Tall Man character is one of the more unnerving monsters in filmland: Not only does he steal the bodies of the dead, but he also steals the souls of towns. As Reggie and Mike travel cross country, it isn't hard to pick up his trail -- they just have to look for boarded-up stores, deserted streets and abandoned homes. Of course, for 1988 audiences facing the effects of outsourcing, the monster emptying out their towns was a little harder to explain.

For another take on the "monsters-as-suburban-economics" metaphor, take a peek at "Poltergeist." Between the unethical developer who didn't bother to relcoate a graveyard and the mindless TV that saps your soul, the Tobe Hooper classic manages to hit a host of cultural touchstones!

A whole subset of horror films is dedicated to rural families living off the land ... and the miserable travelers who happen across their path. It isn't hard to see why it might be an attractive premise: After all, there's no lack of people clinging to the bottom rung of the economic ladder, and it isn't hard to imagine that they may be one paycheck away from having to make their own clothes and hunt their own meat. What happens afterward ... well, that's where it gets really ugly.

If you want even more tips on living off the land (and curious teenagers), you might check out "The Hills Have Eyes," "Wolf Creek" and "Mother's Day." For a funny take on the same premise, try "Tucker and Dale Versus Evil."

You might try going after the unfair trade dealers and their cheap labor for all that student loan money.The government insists you get a college education even thought they help send the jobs off shore with your tax $'s.

Margaret Stevenson Scott (1615?-1692) - Though there were several others accused of witchcraft in Rowley, Massachusetts, Margaret Scott would be the only one hanged. She was born about 1615 in England, but immigrated to America somewhere along the line, as she married Benjamin Scott in 1642. The couple would have seven children, though only three would live past their childhood. They first lived in Braintree, Massachusetts, then to Cambridge, before finally settling in Rowley in 1651. Lacking the money to purchase their own land, the town donated some property to the Scotts in 1664. The very next year, Benjamin Scott was convicted of theft, but just six months later he took the Freeman's Oath, indicating he was a church member in good standing. Just a few years later, in 1671, Benjamin Scott died, leaving an estate of only £67 and 17 shillings. Margaret, who was 56 years-old at the time of her husband's death would soon be reduced to begging, which exposed her to accusations of witchcraft. Another that might have made her a target was the high mortality rate of the children in her family, which often made women vulnerable to suspicion. At the time of her accusations, Margaret was in her 70s and had no family support. She was formally accused of witchcraft by Rowley's most distinguished citizens – the Wicoms and the Nelsons. Formal charges were filed after the daughter of Captain Daniel Wicom became afflicted by witchcraft. The Nelsons helped produce witnesses, and one of the Nelsons sat on the grand jury that indicted her. Several depositions were presented before the Salem Court on September 15, 1692, four of which described the spectral image of Margaret Scott tormenting others. Some of those who were allegedly tormented were Frances Wicom, Mary Daniel, and Sarah Coleman. In the end, Margaret Scott was found guilty of witchcraft and was hanged on September 22, 1692.